Coventry City are a team lacking in confidence, new manager Mark Robins deduced from his first game in charge.
Speaking to BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, Robins said: "I think we were clearly lacking in self belief and you look to your players to go and try to take the game to them at home. There is a lot of work needs to be done, but in all fairness we were a bit unfortunate. We were miles away from where we need to be and miles away from where we want to be. When you are where we are you look for a reaction, and we got a little bit of a reaction, we were unfortunate in hitting the pst a couple of times and we got into some dangerous areas.
"But, we just let them have a day out and a nice day out, and that is something that has got to stop. Again it is things that we have to know and understand and be aware of and then implement the change, You would like and want to try to change things really, really quickly, as in the two days that we have been in. I have tried to do that by bringing people in quickly, unfortunately Franck Moussa wasn't able to be involved today because he was ill, but he will make a difference to us.
"We have got some youngsters in there, Jamie Reckord coming in from Wolves and Conor Henderson coming in from Arsenal just to supplement what we have got. I think with them coming in we have just got to give the young players that guidance to step on and be a man. But, we are looking for positivity, positivity with and without the ball, and we saw people taking easy options today, and that is the thing we have got to change.
"We have got to keep doing the things that are right, we have got to keep training and showing them exactly what we want them to do. I will make changes where I can do quickly because there are certainly too many of them, and I will identify the ones that aren't willing to change or can't change and they may need to seek pastures new, and we will have to change things round.
"But, that is something that I will have to do and get a balance because we have got a group of players that are on contracts, so we may be looking to get them some games somewhere else to be able to bring somebody else in. So, those who want to be here at this football club, which is a fantastic football club, are going to have to step up to the plate and quickly.
"We have got next week to have another look at them and to get some more information in and to do some more training to do some more work towards the games. I think you will see, it might be a slightly bit different at the Emirates next week, it is not an easy place to go is it, and on the back of that there it gives you headaches in terms of what team you are going to pick.
"But, I will go and pick a side that I want to go and have a go. If you have a go and come out on the wrong end of the result then fine, and we just have a look and see where we can be better. But, what we have done is we are actually hiding the fact that we have got a lack of confidence and a lack of belief to move the ball forward with a purpose. Because, that is what I am looking for, but people are not really showing to get on the ball, not moving the ball quickly enough. We have got to do that, but that is going to be something that comes with time.
"You are loathe to say it but the players are better than that, they are better than that and I am sure the supporters have heard all that before, but that is because it is right. We have just got to make sure that they start to believe that, and they have got to show that, but again, I reiterate, if they can't do that we have to change things. It's about taking responsibility for the performance, but we didn't take care of the performance and the two goals we conceded weren't good, but I believe that is the way it has been.
"It was pretty much as I expected. but there were one or two things that we can build on today, it wasn't 90 minutes worth of me feeling like we weren't doing it because there were glimpses, certainly glimpses where we had decent passing moves, balls played wide, some decent movement upfront and then creating a couple of chances that we didn't convert.
"Had we done that I think you may have seen a different Coventry City, but we didn't, we went a goal behind, I was pleased that we came back into the game and the way that we had done that. David McGoldrick deserved his goal, I think he worked tirelessly upfront, generally got hold of the ball OK for us and brought other people into the game. I thought we were, I don't want to say huffing and puffing, I thought we were a nearly team, and it is not great to be a nearly team, so we have got to change that and change it quickly.
"I think their goal was a penalty, I thought at the time it was a penalty, the ball was moved quickly and it just looked like Richard (Wood) had sort of reached for it and he caught the player (Joe Garner), he caught the player square on and the referee (Patrick Miller) was ready to give the penalty, he had the whistle in his mouth before the challenge went in I think.
"We didn't get a great deal of the rub of the green in terms of decisions, he slowed the game down a little bit today and it didn't flow, it didn't have any flow. Then we obviously contributed to that ourselves because we were a little bit hesitant. We have just got to be more positive, be positive and pass it and if you make a mistake you make a mistake, hold your hand up, try not to make the same mistake again and learn from it and everybody gets on with it.
"There were some bright spots, I thought Reece Brown did well and stepped up to the plate. I thought his distribution was OK at times and I thought he commanded the ball when it was in the air and when it was pumped up. I thought he did well, once he came to terms with Danny Cadamarteri's and Joe Garner's physicality, because they will throw themselves in, so he is learning that.
"I thought Carl Baker put in a real shift today on the right-hand side and was fairly creative on that side. John Fleck was lively in spells but it was his first start and full game this season. But, they need to be a little bit surer and more sure of what it is that we want from them, but like I say, after two days there were signs there that they can take information on board.
"Steven Jennings has done his thigh, he has got a tight thigh or he has stretched his thigh or something. But, in all fairness I will probably find out a little bit more about that over the next 24 hours or when I've finished the interview that the physio will come and see me. But, regardless of that we are looking for as fit a squad as we possibly can get for the trip to Arsenal."
Source: FOOTYMAD
